ABSTRACT
Timothy Conroy was born on 20 August 1883, in Castleinch, Ballincollig, Co. Cork, to Jeremiah and Hanora Conroy.! According to his 1932 curriculum vitae, Conroy joined the Royal Navy in 1898, serving in South Mrica, Somaliland and the Persian Gulf until 1906.2 He then spent a year teaching English at a Berlitz school in Copenhagen. In 1909, Conroy was 'Introduced to the Russian
Imperial Court by H.M. Kammer her Kajar'. He taught English in 'Petersburg (Imperial Palace)' and lived 'in the suite of General Rauch, A.D.c. to a Grand Duke' before moving to Siberia to 'study Siberian types and peasants' life'. In 1913, Conroy returned to London to manage the Ambassadors Theatre for a year. In 1914, he passed the Civil Service Commission with Honours in Languages and became a Language Officer 'attached to R.N. Airships, Belgium'. Later that year, he helped repatriate British subjects from Germany via Switzerland. Then, in 1916, Conroy began the journey that would take him to Japan.
